Technologies
Madden NFL 26 Rushes to Xbox Game Pass in February
Play your own Big Game at home on your Xbox.
Super Bowl 2026 is over, and Xbox Game Pass subscribers can get started on a new season of football action with Madden NFL 26, which is now available on the service. Subscribers can see if the Seattle Seahawks will repeat as champions or if their favorite NFL team will make it to the Big Game in 2027.
Xbox Game Pass offers hundreds of games you can play on your Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, Amazon Fire TV, smart TV, PC or mobile device, with prices starting at $10 a month. While all Game Pass tiers offer you a library of games, Game Pass Ultimate ($30 a month) gives you access to the most games, as well as Day 1 games.
Here are all the latest games subscribers can play on Game Pass. You can also check out other games the company added to the service in February, including Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2.
Madden NFL 26
Available now for Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers.
Madden NFL 26 is at its best when it captures the feel of a real NFL Sunday, from the grind in the trenches to the split-second decisions that can swing a game. With the next season now seven months away from starting, it’s an easy way to scratch the football itch.
Paw Patrol Rescue Wheels: Championship
Available now for Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Premium and PC Game Pass subscribers.
Little racers and PAW Patrol fans will love jumping behind the wheel in this colorful, family-friendly monster-truck racer across Adventure Bay and beyond. Choose your favorite pup, then pull off stunts, turbo boosts and power-ups, then drift and race your way toward the championship in solo or multiplayer mode. With signature characters and playful chaos on every track, it’s a joyful ride that brings the Rescue Wheels crew to life
Relooted
Available on Feb. 10 for Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers.
Relooted is a clever Africanfuturist heist game where you assemble a ragtag crew to sneak into museums and reclaim real African artifacts through planning, parkour and fast-paced escapes. You’ll scout layouts, solve puzzles and race against alarms in a stylish blend of action and strategy. With its unique premise and cultural heart, it’s a fresh twist on the heist genre gamers should keep an eye on.
BlazBlue Entropy Effect X
Available on Feb. 12 for Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers.
BlazBlue is a franchise that made its bones on fast-paced fighting games, but BlazBlue Entropy Effect X is something entirely different. This new game is a stylish, fast-paced roguelite action adventure with striking 2D visuals and responsive combat that takes place in the BlazBlue universe. Players dive into the mysterious Sea of Possibility, battling waves of foes and unlocking new builds with combos and upgrades along the way.
Roadside Research
Available on Feb. 12 for Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers.
There are games with unique premises, and then there’s Roadside Research. In this game, players control aliens who have landed on Earth and are running a gas station. Their goal is to research humans and to avoid being detected by their human customers.
Starsand Island
Available on Feb. 12 for Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers.
Starsand Island is a cozy life-simulation game that blends farming, exploration and friendship building on a tranquil, anime-inspired island paradise. Players can grow crops, make lasting bonds with colorful villagers and uncover hidden secrets across lush landscapes at their own pace. It’s a relaxing escape into pastoral bliss that invites you to shape your ideal island life.
High on Life 2
Available on Feb. 13 for Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers.
High on Life 2 is the sequel to the 2022 FPS game made by Squanch Games, which was founded by the co-creator of the Rick and Morty series. The sequel has players once again traveling across the galaxy with an arsenal of talking guns as companions.
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora
Available on Feb. 17 for Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers.
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora drops you into the lush, alien world of Pandora where you explore a vast open frontier as a Na’vi warrior, mastering traditional weapons, human tech and aerial combat on your own banshee. The game blends first-person action, exploration and story-driven encounters as you unite clans to push back the RDA and protect your homeland. With immersive settings and dynamic gameplay, it’s a must-try for fans of cinematic adventures in rich, living worlds.
Games leaving Game Pass in February
For February, Microsoft is being a little more charitable by only removing one game this month. It’s also a game not many people will miss since it’s an older sports title, but for those still playing it, now is a good time to finish up what you can before it’s gone for good on Feb. 28.
For more on Xbox, discover other games available on Game Pass now, and check out our hands-on review of the gaming service. You can also learn about recent changes to the Game Pass service.
Technologies
Google’s Pixel 10A Is Coming to Japan With an Exclusive Blue Edition and Special Wallpaper
This model comes with creatively designed stickers and a special look for Pixel’s 10th anniversary.
Don’t be blue: Google is releasing an Isai blue edition of the Pixel 10A to celebrate the Android phone line’s 10th anniversary, setting it apart with its own sticker set, specialized wallpaper and custom icons. But it’ll only be available in Japan.
Announced Tuesday on the Google Japan blog, the Isai blue Pixel 10A has a dark blue look and includes bonus decorations designed in collaboration with Japan’s Heralbony art company. These include an exclusive bumper case and stickers for customization.
This edition of the Pixel 10A will arrive in Japan on May 20, following the April 14 release of the Pixel 10A in its original colors of lavender, berry, fog and obsidian. The Isai blue model costs 94,900 yen, which roughly translates to $595, and includes 256GB of storage.
This makes it slightly less expensive than the US model’s 256GB edition, but it comes with a number of fun extras at no additional cost.
Google’s creation of a country-specific model for Japan may also reflect strong sales in that market. In 2023, the IDC analytics firm (via 9to5Google) reported that the Pixel 7 series accounted for 10.7% of the country’s market share, a 527% increase from 2022.
Technologies
Can’t Wait for New Emoji? Here’s How to Create Your Own on iPhone
Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhones can create custom emoji in a few easy steps.
Apple brought new emoji to all iPhones when the company released iOS 26.4 on March 24. The new emoji include «» orca, «» distorted face and «» hairy creature — or as we might normally call it, Sasquatch. According to Emojipedia, there are 3,953 emoji with more on the way, including a pickle. But there’s no emoji for a dog wearing pajamas, a plate with burgers and fries and many other things. But if you have Genmoji on your iPhone you can create these emoji and many more.
Apple released iOS 18.2 in 2024 and the company introduced its own emoji generator, called Genmoji, to Apple Intelligence-capable iPhones at that time. The Unicode Standard, a universal character encoding standard, is responsible for creating new emoji, and approved emoji are added to all devices once a year. With Genmoji, you don’t have to wait for new emoji to appear on your iPhone each year. You can just create them as you need them.
Read on to learn how to use Genmoji on iPhone to create your own custom emoji. Just note that only iPhones with Apple Intelligence, like the iPhone 17 lineup, can use Genmoji at this time.
Note: The new emoji may not display correctly for Apple users whose devices aren’t on a 26.4 software version.
How to make custom emoji
1. Open Messages and go into a chat.
2. Tap the plus (+) button next to your text box.
3. Tap Genmoji.
You can then type a description of an emoji into the text box near the bottom of your screen and tap the check mark on your keyboard to enter that description into Genmoji. You can also tap different suggestions and themes that are right above the text box. And with iOS 26 or later, you can also combine and use emoji to create others rather than describing a new emoji or using suggestions.
Your iPhone will generate a series of new emoji for you to pick from according to your description, and you can swipe through these new emoji. When you find the one you want, tap Add in the top right corner of your screen and the new emoji will be available to use as an emoji, tapback or a sticker. Now you don’t have to wait for the Unicode Standard to propose, create and bring new emoji to devices.
For more iOS news, here’s what to know about iOS 26.4 and iOS 26.3. You can also check out our iOS 26 cheat sheet for other tips and tricks.
Technologies
Save Over 20% on This Handy 10,000-mAh Anker Nano Power Bank
Keep your devices charged on the go with this Anker Nano power bank, now down to just $46.
We’ve just spotted the Anker Nano 45-watt portable power bank for just $46 at Amazon right now. This saves you $14 — a 23% discount on its list price. Though it’s $6 more than the lowest-ever price we saw during Black Friday, it’s still a solid discount when you take the rising cost of tech accessories into account. It also matches the lowest price we’ve seen in 2026. It comes in four colors: black, green, pink and white. They’re all on sale for the same price.
This Anker Nano portable charger weighs approximately 8.2 ounces and measures a compact 3.21×1.99×1.42 inches. Despite its small size, it has a retractable cable and supports fast charging in compatible Apple, Samsung, Google Pixel and other smartphones. It also has a large 10,000-mAh capacity and a smart display so you always know how much juice is left in your power bank.
The Nano can charge an iPhone 17 to up to 50% battery in an estimated 20 minutes, and is powerful enough to charge tablets and laptops. Need to charge your devices while charging your power bank? You can do so safely thanks to pass-through charging so you’ll never have to go without battery life.
We’ve also compiled a list of the best power banks for iPhones and for Android, in case this deal isn’t quite a fit for you.
Why this deal matters
If you travel, have a long commute time or are otherwise always on the go, a portable charger can help you keep your devices fully powered. This 45-watt Anker Nano power bank is compact, includes a loop that lets you keep track of it easily and has a built-in cable so you don’t have to keep up with extra cords. Amazon’s $14 discount makes this a solid deal for anyone looking for a compact power bank.
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